A new insurance crime wave is sweeping Britain and is costing innocent motorists thousands. The scam which has been used in the states for a number of years varies in its level of sophistication but usually takes the following form fraudsters will fill a car with as many passengers as possible they then drive in front of an innocent motorist wait for them to be distracted by something like adjusting the radio and brake suddenly causing the innocent motorist to hit the rear of the fraudsters car.
In the eyes of the insurers the innocent victim will be at fault and the fraudsters will often use bogus witnesses who where not even at the scene of the accident and fictitious passengers. Then follows bogus injury claims for all the passengers in the car along with bogus claims for car hire and hugely exaggerated repair bills. In some cases a simple accident can cost an insurer £30,000.
The fraudsters use old cars and tend to target cars that are a few years old with lone drivers. They will often use a round about as the scene of the accident. If you are caught in this situation beware of any witnesses who appear from nowhere blaming you and passengers claiming whip lash after minor accidents.
Showing posts with label False insurance claims. Show all posts
Showing posts with label False insurance claims. Show all posts
Monday, 21 July 2008
Wednesday, 9 July 2008
Fraudsters beware
The insurance industry had a stark warning for anyone tempted to make a false insurance claim. Recently released figures from the ABI (Association of British Insurers) show that last year insurers uncovered 24,000 fraudulent motor insurance claims up 70% over the past three years. In total £260 million, or £5 million every week of false claims where detected.
Nick Starling, the ABI’s Director of General Insurance and Health, said:
“Insurance fraud is no victimless crime. Honest motorists pay through higher insurance premiums – an extra £40 a year on average. This is why insurers are ramping up their crackdown to weed out the cheats. Anyone committing insurance fraud is more likely to get caught, risks a criminal record, and will find future insurance and credit harder to obtain and more expensive.”
The number of fraudulet claims is expected to rise sharpely as consumers start to feel the pinch of the credit crunch and strugle to meet hire purchase and loan repayments.
Cheats who have been caught out include:
• A policyholder, claiming for damage to her Land Rover when it hit the front of her house, said it was caused when her foot slipped off the brake. However, the damage was caused deliberately, following an argument with her partner.
• A car owner claimed his car had been stolen. It was proved that he had pushed it over a cliff, and planned to use the insurance payout to meet his Hire Purchase payments.
• The owner of a Rolls Royce claimed £10,000 for the alleged theft of the front grill, hubcaps, steering wheel, seats and bonnet mascot. However, he had removed the items himself; they were later found in his home by the police. He received a criminal conviction.
Nick Starling, the ABI’s Director of General Insurance and Health, said:
“Insurance fraud is no victimless crime. Honest motorists pay through higher insurance premiums – an extra £40 a year on average. This is why insurers are ramping up their crackdown to weed out the cheats. Anyone committing insurance fraud is more likely to get caught, risks a criminal record, and will find future insurance and credit harder to obtain and more expensive.”
The number of fraudulet claims is expected to rise sharpely as consumers start to feel the pinch of the credit crunch and strugle to meet hire purchase and loan repayments.
Cheats who have been caught out include:
• A policyholder, claiming for damage to her Land Rover when it hit the front of her house, said it was caused when her foot slipped off the brake. However, the damage was caused deliberately, following an argument with her partner.
• A car owner claimed his car had been stolen. It was proved that he had pushed it over a cliff, and planned to use the insurance payout to meet his Hire Purchase payments.
• The owner of a Rolls Royce claimed £10,000 for the alleged theft of the front grill, hubcaps, steering wheel, seats and bonnet mascot. However, he had removed the items himself; they were later found in his home by the police. He received a criminal conviction.
Monday, 2 June 2008
Making a false insurance claim could cost you your home
False claims and policyholders exaggerating the cost of damage costs the insurance industry £1.5 billion a year.
With fraudulent claims on the up and the cost of recent flood damage rising, insurance companies are continuing to crack down on false or inflated claims.
One of the ways they deter false claims is by sharing information with mortgage lenders and credit card providers, which could potentially make it much harder for claims cheats to obtain credit.
John Beadle, RSA's counter fraud manager, said: "The reality is that insurance fraud adds a significant amount to overall claim costs and it's the honest policyholders who are the true victim, Fraud adds five per cent onto their insurance bills"
He added "Consumers need to be aware that in the near future we will be able to monitor fraud across a spectrum of financial products. So if a person commits fraud on a claim and is detected, other companies, like mortgage lenders and credit card providers will be aware of it".
You've been warned!
With fraudulent claims on the up and the cost of recent flood damage rising, insurance companies are continuing to crack down on false or inflated claims.
One of the ways they deter false claims is by sharing information with mortgage lenders and credit card providers, which could potentially make it much harder for claims cheats to obtain credit.
John Beadle, RSA's counter fraud manager, said: "The reality is that insurance fraud adds a significant amount to overall claim costs and it's the honest policyholders who are the true victim, Fraud adds five per cent onto their insurance bills"
He added "Consumers need to be aware that in the near future we will be able to monitor fraud across a spectrum of financial products. So if a person commits fraud on a claim and is detected, other companies, like mortgage lenders and credit card providers will be aware of it".
You've been warned!
Monday, 3 March 2008
Barking Mad
An estimated 1.8 million pet insurance claims are made in the UK against veterinary treatment for cats and dogs every year. A further 18,000 claims are also made for other reasons including when the animal is lost or stolen. However around 75% of uninsured cat and dog owners pay out for an estimated 5.5 million veterinary treatments annually.
According to a supermarket insurance company who shall remain nameless but would be better employed making sure they had enough bread and milk on the shelves of my local one, the most common pet insurance claim is for skin tumours, followed by general poor health where the cat or dog is said to be "just not his/herself".
According to a supermarket insurance company who shall remain nameless but would be better employed making sure they had enough bread and milk on the shelves of my local one, the most common pet insurance claim is for skin tumours, followed by general poor health where the cat or dog is said to be "just not his/herself".
Monday, 18 February 2008
Sir Tom denies chest hair insurance claim
Apparently Sir Tom Jones has dismissed reports he’s had his legendary chest hair insured for millions.
A tabloid newspaper reported that the singer had approached Lloyd’s of London, who agreed to insure his chest hair for £3.5million.
But a posting on Sir Tom’s official website says the claims are nonsense.
“The story is completely fabricated,” it says. “No such insurance policy exists or has ever been considered. We assume this is just a bit of fun and hope no one takes this kind of ‘reporting’ seriously.”
We thought such an insurance policy would be rare.
But apparently, it's not unusual!
A tabloid newspaper reported that the singer had approached Lloyd’s of London, who agreed to insure his chest hair for £3.5million.
But a posting on Sir Tom’s official website says the claims are nonsense.
“The story is completely fabricated,” it says. “No such insurance policy exists or has ever been considered. We assume this is just a bit of fun and hope no one takes this kind of ‘reporting’ seriously.”
We thought such an insurance policy would be rare.
But apparently, it's not unusual!
Tuesday, 29 January 2008
Insurance fraud can be dangerous
Insurance fraud is harder than it looks. Just ask Andreas, who lost his life trying to collect on an amputated limb. Just ask Musa and his son Essa, who hired an arsonist to burn down their Steak Thyme Subs shop so they could collect the insurance money. They promised him a $60,000 a year job, but where he would work once the shop was gone is unknown.
Three times he tried, and three times he failed to destroy the sandwich shop. The neighborhood was up in arms over the apparent "hate crimes" repeatedly being committed against the Jordanian immigrants. Whether it was a Molotov cocktail thrown through the window, or chairs doused with gasoline and set ablaze, the result was the same. Minor damage. This was getting them nowhere fast!
Eventually Musa grew tired of throwing good money after bad. For the fourth arson attempt, only 12 hours after the flaming chairs fizzled, he and his son decided to help out their hired hand. They spread gasoline around their eatery, so that a single match would do the trick.
Tragically, they apparently had more talent for arson than their amateur arsonist. They took a cigarette break. One lit cigarette later, an accidental gas explosion took out one wall, and burned both men over 80% of their bodies. Despite several weeks of hospitalized care, the men died from their injuries.
The inept arsonist faces a far lighter sentence: up to 10 years in prison.
Let that be a lesson to you!
Three times he tried, and three times he failed to destroy the sandwich shop. The neighborhood was up in arms over the apparent "hate crimes" repeatedly being committed against the Jordanian immigrants. Whether it was a Molotov cocktail thrown through the window, or chairs doused with gasoline and set ablaze, the result was the same. Minor damage. This was getting them nowhere fast!
Eventually Musa grew tired of throwing good money after bad. For the fourth arson attempt, only 12 hours after the flaming chairs fizzled, he and his son decided to help out their hired hand. They spread gasoline around their eatery, so that a single match would do the trick.
Tragically, they apparently had more talent for arson than their amateur arsonist. They took a cigarette break. One lit cigarette later, an accidental gas explosion took out one wall, and burned both men over 80% of their bodies. Despite several weeks of hospitalized care, the men died from their injuries.
The inept arsonist faces a far lighter sentence: up to 10 years in prison.
Let that be a lesson to you!
Thursday, 24 January 2008
On the fiddle
One in 10 people would exaggerate an insurance claim if they believed they would not get caught and 7% admit to actually committing fraud, says a Norwich Union report.
Insurers often face criticism for using non-disclosure as a scapegoat in order to avoid payouts, but they have also said consumers need to take their share of the blame.
Following a survey commissioned by Norwich Union, the UK insurer said that up to 10% of all insurance claims are thought to be false, which represents a cost of more than £1.6 billion a year.
The research also showed that 75% of British adults believe that dishonesty is rife in today's society, and 46% believe the UK has seen a significant shift in attitudes over the past decade.
Dominic Clayden, director of claims at Norwich Union, said that as much as 60% of all insurance fraud is committed by those who are motivated by a belief that everyone else is at it. But he also said that another reason for fraud was that people were concerned they would not be paid the full value by their insurer.
‘These concerns are in fact entirely misplaced, our priority is to pay genuine claims in full, as quickly as possible,’ Clayden said.
Last year Norwich Union identified and denied 20,000 claims that it deemed were fraudulent, worth approximately £150 million.
Clayden said: ‘Not many people realise that if any part of their claim can be shown to be fraudulent, then the whole claim is potentially invalidated and you risk not receiving any payment at all.
Insurers often face criticism for using non-disclosure as a scapegoat in order to avoid payouts, but they have also said consumers need to take their share of the blame.
Following a survey commissioned by Norwich Union, the UK insurer said that up to 10% of all insurance claims are thought to be false, which represents a cost of more than £1.6 billion a year.
The research also showed that 75% of British adults believe that dishonesty is rife in today's society, and 46% believe the UK has seen a significant shift in attitudes over the past decade.
Dominic Clayden, director of claims at Norwich Union, said that as much as 60% of all insurance fraud is committed by those who are motivated by a belief that everyone else is at it. But he also said that another reason for fraud was that people were concerned they would not be paid the full value by their insurer.
‘These concerns are in fact entirely misplaced, our priority is to pay genuine claims in full, as quickly as possible,’ Clayden said.
Last year Norwich Union identified and denied 20,000 claims that it deemed were fraudulent, worth approximately £150 million.
Clayden said: ‘Not many people realise that if any part of their claim can be shown to be fraudulent, then the whole claim is potentially invalidated and you risk not receiving any payment at all.
Monday, 7 January 2008
Those crazy insurance claims - again!
A leading Insurance company has sifted through more than 180,000 car insurance claims and released a list of some of the craziest.
They include:
Silly Moo – You expect to see a few animals on a trip to the countryside but finding one on top of her car certainly took Mrs R by surprise. After crashing through a fence and making a rather large dent in the bonnet, the bull and driver were lucky to escape with minor bumps – the car was not!
The Big Sleep – Mr L found his trip to Holy Island in Northumberland so relaxing that as he sat in his camper van admiring the view, he nodded off. However, he woke up to find he’d parked on the causeway and the tide had come in. Whilst he was safely rescued by boat, his van sank without trace.
Upsetting the Applecart – A shocked Mr A was taken by surprise when he experienced a rather unusual downpour. It wasn’t rain showering down on his car but apples from a forklift truck
Supermarket Sweep – Flying balls, jumping deer and barking dogs...we thought we had heard them all until Mrs P claimed “several airborne shopping trolleys came flying towards me ruining my bonnet.” The offending trolleys had fallen off a delivery lorry.
All Washed Up – Mr K found himself in deep water on a trip to the car wash. When a brush came loose and scraped down the side of his vehicle he opened the door to press the emergency button. Unfortunately, the machine jammed in the open door, writing off both car and car wash
It just goes to show, you need to ensure you’re covered for all eventualities, however far-fetched they might seem.
They include:
Silly Moo – You expect to see a few animals on a trip to the countryside but finding one on top of her car certainly took Mrs R by surprise. After crashing through a fence and making a rather large dent in the bonnet, the bull and driver were lucky to escape with minor bumps – the car was not!
The Big Sleep – Mr L found his trip to Holy Island in Northumberland so relaxing that as he sat in his camper van admiring the view, he nodded off. However, he woke up to find he’d parked on the causeway and the tide had come in. Whilst he was safely rescued by boat, his van sank without trace.
Upsetting the Applecart – A shocked Mr A was taken by surprise when he experienced a rather unusual downpour. It wasn’t rain showering down on his car but apples from a forklift truck
Supermarket Sweep – Flying balls, jumping deer and barking dogs...we thought we had heard them all until Mrs P claimed “several airborne shopping trolleys came flying towards me ruining my bonnet.” The offending trolleys had fallen off a delivery lorry.
All Washed Up – Mr K found himself in deep water on a trip to the car wash. When a brush came loose and scraped down the side of his vehicle he opened the door to press the emergency button. Unfortunately, the machine jammed in the open door, writing off both car and car wash
It just goes to show, you need to ensure you’re covered for all eventualities, however far-fetched they might seem.
Sunday, 2 December 2007
Insurance claim is hisss-tory!!
Taiwan police have arrested a man who allegedly used a snake bite in an insurance fraud scheme, a newspaper said Saturday. The man, a Taipei construction worker identified only as Chien, 53, claimed he was bitten by a snake in November 2006 at the home of a friend who raised snakes.
Chien was rushed to hospital by his friend and had one finger amputated.
Several months ago, Chien approached his insurance company to claim 25 million Taiwan dollars (760,000 US dollars) insurance for bodily injury.
The insurance company studied Chien's medical records and became suspicious on finding that there was only one bite mark on Chien's hand, yet tests showed there were three types of snake venom in his blood.
Another peculiarity was that after Chien was bitten, he and the friend waited three hours before rushing Chien to a hospital.
The insurance company believed Chien let one snake bite him and injected the venom of two other snakes into his hand, so that the "snake bite" would be serious enough to require his hand or arm to be amputated, so he could file a claim on an insurance policy for bodily injury.
After investigating, the insurance company alerted police, who are now set to prosecute Chien for insurance fraud.
You see, you really need to get up early in the morning to get one over the insurance industry!
Chien was rushed to hospital by his friend and had one finger amputated.
Several months ago, Chien approached his insurance company to claim 25 million Taiwan dollars (760,000 US dollars) insurance for bodily injury.
The insurance company studied Chien's medical records and became suspicious on finding that there was only one bite mark on Chien's hand, yet tests showed there were three types of snake venom in his blood.
Another peculiarity was that after Chien was bitten, he and the friend waited three hours before rushing Chien to a hospital.
The insurance company believed Chien let one snake bite him and injected the venom of two other snakes into his hand, so that the "snake bite" would be serious enough to require his hand or arm to be amputated, so he could file a claim on an insurance policy for bodily injury.
After investigating, the insurance company alerted police, who are now set to prosecute Chien for insurance fraud.
You see, you really need to get up early in the morning to get one over the insurance industry!
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